Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Friday, 10 October 2014
Autumn Holiday 2014 -- First Full Day
Well, this is ridiculous: i'm naturally an early riser anyway, but today i woke even earlier than normal, at around 2:15. I love the early morning hours, though: so quiet and peaceful...
Anyway, i spent the first few hours listening, as is my wont, to KSHE and my friend the deejay Tommy T., whose program "The Rock Magazine" is one of my favourite radio shows. This morning Tommy devoted the hour to Paul McCartney (and Wings). McCartney is a performer who hasn't interested me since the eighties, but as Tommy featured mostly his seventies output, all was well. (This is Beatles Week on "The Rock Magazine." It will be a good week!)
I also caught up on the news (the Qbot, a nasty online banking Trojan, infects 500,000 systems; the St Louis Cardinals won last night, yay!) and then continued with a research project i've undertaken,into the life and times of 1950's pin-up queen Bettie Page. Her photographs, whilst pretty scandalous at the time, seem pretty innocent compared to some of the schtuff that's out there now, but i'm fascinated by her charm and almost angelic good looks. Here she is:
And i did pretty much nothing else for the rest of the morning, although i switched radio stations: to KROCK -- where my friend Wendy Boomer is the co-host of the morning show and is followed by my Facebook friend Courtney (with whom i exchanged some jollity via email this a.m., too).
Of course, i scrubbed Catieboo's litterbox -- the usual Tuesday morning ritual.
And then, after breakfast, a sausage samwidge, i started to watch the Nicolas Cage film "Lord Of War" and ... fell asleep. This was not a reflection on the film -- from what i saw (and what i remember) it looked damned good. But i couldn't keep my minces open, and i woke at around 6 p.m. After which it was just another quiet evening at home.
Life in the bus lane....
Anyway, i spent the first few hours listening, as is my wont, to KSHE and my friend the deejay Tommy T., whose program "The Rock Magazine" is one of my favourite radio shows. This morning Tommy devoted the hour to Paul McCartney (and Wings). McCartney is a performer who hasn't interested me since the eighties, but as Tommy featured mostly his seventies output, all was well. (This is Beatles Week on "The Rock Magazine." It will be a good week!)
I also caught up on the news (the Qbot, a nasty online banking Trojan, infects 500,000 systems; the St Louis Cardinals won last night, yay!) and then continued with a research project i've undertaken,into the life and times of 1950's pin-up queen Bettie Page. Her photographs, whilst pretty scandalous at the time, seem pretty innocent compared to some of the schtuff that's out there now, but i'm fascinated by her charm and almost angelic good looks. Here she is:
And i did pretty much nothing else for the rest of the morning, although i switched radio stations: to KROCK -- where my friend Wendy Boomer is the co-host of the morning show and is followed by my Facebook friend Courtney (with whom i exchanged some jollity via email this a.m., too).
Of course, i scrubbed Catieboo's litterbox -- the usual Tuesday morning ritual.
And then, after breakfast, a sausage samwidge, i started to watch the Nicolas Cage film "Lord Of War" and ... fell asleep. This was not a reflection on the film -- from what i saw (and what i remember) it looked damned good. But i couldn't keep my minces open, and i woke at around 6 p.m. After which it was just another quiet evening at home.
Life in the bus lane....
Monday, 6 October 2014
Holiday Diary, Autumn 2014
Quotation Of The Day ~ Billie Joe Armstrong: I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies /
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives / On holiday. (From "American Idiot.")
Right well, i am now on holiday for 8.5 days -- today being my half day off -- and it began in dismal fashion, with me leaving an hour late (because no one was scheduled to come in and take over for me). I'm not well pleased about that, it completely screwed up my lunch plans -- and i truly believe that the two-hour lunch is a pinnacle of Western culture. But that's the restaurant biz for you: i learned long ago that one cannot make plans for right after one's shift, leaving on time is not something you can reasonably expect to be able to do.
I'm not going anywhere, i'm trying (although not with much success as yet) to save the $$$ for the trip to St Louis next year), in fact my plans for the eight days are very vague at this point. There's a lot i want to do around the house; i may actually get some of it done. A new computer is definitely in the cards so some time will be spent configuring that. Beer will be drunk, music will be listened to, porn will be looked at, movies and reading will be caught up on, and many sentences will be ended with prepositions.
Two things i'm really looking forward to, though: finally being able to try Kelsey's weekend brunch, and listening to the Sunday Classics programme on KSHE radio. It's such a great programme, and as i've only had one Sunday off in two years ... I have the KSHE app on my phone and i try to listen when i'm slaving away on the Sabbath day but that's a long, long way from being ideal: not much volume and loads of peripheral noise -- it's slightly better than not at all, but only slightly.
Here's three more from my CD collection:
And the playlist:
Howard Jones - Best Of Howard Jones
10 c.c. - How Dare You!
Marillion - Clutching At Straws
Paul McCartney - Driving Rain
Chris Leslie - Origins
Marillion - Fugazi
Fairport Convention - Festival Bell
Van der Graaf Generator - World Record
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives / On holiday. (From "American Idiot.")
Right well, i am now on holiday for 8.5 days -- today being my half day off -- and it began in dismal fashion, with me leaving an hour late (because no one was scheduled to come in and take over for me). I'm not well pleased about that, it completely screwed up my lunch plans -- and i truly believe that the two-hour lunch is a pinnacle of Western culture. But that's the restaurant biz for you: i learned long ago that one cannot make plans for right after one's shift, leaving on time is not something you can reasonably expect to be able to do.
I'm not going anywhere, i'm trying (although not with much success as yet) to save the $$$ for the trip to St Louis next year), in fact my plans for the eight days are very vague at this point. There's a lot i want to do around the house; i may actually get some of it done. A new computer is definitely in the cards so some time will be spent configuring that. Beer will be drunk, music will be listened to, porn will be looked at, movies and reading will be caught up on, and many sentences will be ended with prepositions.
Two things i'm really looking forward to, though: finally being able to try Kelsey's weekend brunch, and listening to the Sunday Classics programme on KSHE radio. It's such a great programme, and as i've only had one Sunday off in two years ... I have the KSHE app on my phone and i try to listen when i'm slaving away on the Sabbath day but that's a long, long way from being ideal: not much volume and loads of peripheral noise -- it's slightly better than not at all, but only slightly.
Here's three more from my CD collection:
And the playlist:
Howard Jones - Best Of Howard Jones
10 c.c. - How Dare You!
Marillion - Clutching At Straws
Paul McCartney - Driving Rain
Chris Leslie - Origins
Marillion - Fugazi
Fairport Convention - Festival Bell
Van der Graaf Generator - World Record
Sunday, 21 September 2014
I Got Da Music In Me
Quotation of the day ~ Ludwig van Beethoven: Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
Nothing but music today, kids.
Here are some CD covers (the first one is a new acquisition)
And , of course, my playlist (because i know you care):
The Kinks - To The Bone
Genesis - Trespass
The Pretty Reckless -Going To Hell
Dave Swarbrick - English Fiddler
Dave Swarbrick & Simon Nicol - Another Fine Mess
Jethro Tull - Rock Island
Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii
Thin Lizzy - Renegade
Van der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
Chicago - Chicago V
Big Wreck - Ghosts
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Isle Of Wight 1970
Marillion - Brave
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells III
The Yardbirds - Smokestack Lightning
Seether - Isolate And Medicate
Peter Hammill - X My Heart
Marillion - Brave Live 2013
Keith Emerson - Changing States
Peter Hammill - Enter K
The Tragically Hip - Now For Plan A
Free - Tons Of Sobs
Dead Can Dance - Spleen And Ideal
Wishbone Ash - The Best Of Wishbone Ash
Nothing but music today, kids.
Here are some CD covers (the first one is a new acquisition)
And , of course, my playlist (because i know you care):
The Kinks - To The Bone
Genesis - Trespass
The Pretty Reckless -Going To Hell
Dave Swarbrick - English Fiddler
Dave Swarbrick & Simon Nicol - Another Fine Mess
Jethro Tull - Rock Island
Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii
Thin Lizzy - Renegade
Van der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
Chicago - Chicago V
Big Wreck - Ghosts
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Isle Of Wight 1970
Marillion - Brave
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells III
The Yardbirds - Smokestack Lightning
Seether - Isolate And Medicate
Peter Hammill - X My Heart
Marillion - Brave Live 2013
Keith Emerson - Changing States
Peter Hammill - Enter K
The Tragically Hip - Now For Plan A
Free - Tons Of Sobs
Dead Can Dance - Spleen And Ideal
Wishbone Ash - The Best Of Wishbone Ash
Thursday, 11 September 2014
Born In The U.K., Eh?
Sometimes, i really do wonder who i am, where i belong. When i was a teenager (and younger), growing up in post-war England, i wanted more than anything to be American. We had rationing and although i can't really say i lacked for anything, except maybe chocolate (and i've never really developed a taste for it), Americans seemed so much more interesting, and so well-off. Of course, this impression came from television -- i still remember the ad for Nescafe, saying that it was "America's Favourite Coffee," although obviously at that age i didn't drink coffee. And one of the first television programmes i remember, was "I Love Lucy." And i wanted to live there. Somehow, though, i wound up in Canada.
The first American city i ever visited, was Buffalo, New York. No, really. And i remember that i was so proud and happy to have American food in my stomach and American dirt on my shoes.So i went to the States as often as i could -- tours up and down the east coast a couple of times, Boston once, Detroit twice (to see concerts by The Kinks and David Bowie) New York City many times -- i actually lived and worked there for a little while and in fact i still think of it as being my spiritual home, it's just so dynamic, so much energy, so much going on.
But then something happened. Actually, Margaret Atwood happened. I read a couple of her novels, which were delightful, but more than anything, her non-fiction book "Survival" -- a brilliant look at how Canada and the USA, sharing one vast land mass, developed very different cultures and how Canada's climate and topography influenced its national identity. I was fascinated, started to read more Canadian writers (Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler, Marie-Clair Blais), became interested in Canadian history (the doomed Franklin expedition haunts me, and find it hilarious that the Canadian Civil War was basically a bar fight LOL) (The Battle Of Montgomery's Tavern.) I started a bachelor's degree program at York University called "Studies In Canadian Culture" and was enthused, threw myself into it. This country has nothing to feel inferior about (although feeling inferior is a national characteristic). It was a Canadian artist (whose name i forget, but he was one of the Group Of Seven) who first painted shadows on snow as being blue. Well, they are blue! But no one had ever depicted them that way before...
But then something else happened, in 1977 or thereabouts, and it was a pub, it was The Duke Of Kent. It was an English-styled that opened in my neighbourhood, and i there met such a great bunch of ex-pat Brits, and it was there that i started to recall my English heritage. Some of the people i met there were so great -- and i remain friends with a few of them to this day -- i began to re-embrace my Englishness, and i was proud of it.
Now, though, after many years of listening to British music almost exclusively, reading books by British writers almost exclusively, i have entered the autumn of my years and have reverted to my younger self in a way, and have begun to recall my earlier Americophilia.
A couple of years ago, i was complaining to my friend Dave that my morning radio station -- to which i had been a devoted listener for years -- had changed ownership or management or something and had gone into the toilet; it had become unlistenable. Dave, who lives in St Clair, Missouri, suggested i might like a station called KSHE from St Louis and i checked it out online and ... thereby Dave changed my life.
I have written previously about how much i feel attracted to St Louis, an attraction that was kick-started primarily by KSHE and solidified by my own research into the place -- and here's something that will gratify my Anonymous commentator -- i am planning a trip for next year -- but here's something else. Through Dave, i have become friends, on Facebook, with quite a few people from the St Louis area, and they are a wonderful bunch! I'm really looking forward to meeting them and i'm starting to feel American again.... So. Full circle?
p.s., i'm posting this on September 11th, a day on which we are all of us, every one, Americans.
The first American city i ever visited, was Buffalo, New York. No, really. And i remember that i was so proud and happy to have American food in my stomach and American dirt on my shoes.So i went to the States as often as i could -- tours up and down the east coast a couple of times, Boston once, Detroit twice (to see concerts by The Kinks and David Bowie) New York City many times -- i actually lived and worked there for a little while and in fact i still think of it as being my spiritual home, it's just so dynamic, so much energy, so much going on.
But then something happened. Actually, Margaret Atwood happened. I read a couple of her novels, which were delightful, but more than anything, her non-fiction book "Survival" -- a brilliant look at how Canada and the USA, sharing one vast land mass, developed very different cultures and how Canada's climate and topography influenced its national identity. I was fascinated, started to read more Canadian writers (Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler, Marie-Clair Blais), became interested in Canadian history (the doomed Franklin expedition haunts me, and find it hilarious that the Canadian Civil War was basically a bar fight LOL) (The Battle Of Montgomery's Tavern.) I started a bachelor's degree program at York University called "Studies In Canadian Culture" and was enthused, threw myself into it. This country has nothing to feel inferior about (although feeling inferior is a national characteristic). It was a Canadian artist (whose name i forget, but he was one of the Group Of Seven) who first painted shadows on snow as being blue. Well, they are blue! But no one had ever depicted them that way before...
But then something else happened, in 1977 or thereabouts, and it was a pub, it was The Duke Of Kent. It was an English-styled that opened in my neighbourhood, and i there met such a great bunch of ex-pat Brits, and it was there that i started to recall my English heritage. Some of the people i met there were so great -- and i remain friends with a few of them to this day -- i began to re-embrace my Englishness, and i was proud of it.
Now, though, after many years of listening to British music almost exclusively, reading books by British writers almost exclusively, i have entered the autumn of my years and have reverted to my younger self in a way, and have begun to recall my earlier Americophilia.
A couple of years ago, i was complaining to my friend Dave that my morning radio station -- to which i had been a devoted listener for years -- had changed ownership or management or something and had gone into the toilet; it had become unlistenable. Dave, who lives in St Clair, Missouri, suggested i might like a station called KSHE from St Louis and i checked it out online and ... thereby Dave changed my life.
I have written previously about how much i feel attracted to St Louis, an attraction that was kick-started primarily by KSHE and solidified by my own research into the place -- and here's something that will gratify my Anonymous commentator -- i am planning a trip for next year -- but here's something else. Through Dave, i have become friends, on Facebook, with quite a few people from the St Louis area, and they are a wonderful bunch! I'm really looking forward to meeting them and i'm starting to feel American again.... So. Full circle?
p.s., i'm posting this on September 11th, a day on which we are all of us, every one, Americans.
Saturday, 9 August 2014
Playlist
I understand that my legions of fans -- or me, anyway (if i can be considered a legion) must be miffed at my lack of new posts, and i do have a new one in draft stage, but it's the 21st century's number one problem: lack of time.
So all i have for you is a playlist:
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Third Annual Pipe Dream
Rush - Power Windows
Genesis - Calling All Stations
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Jethro Tull - Original Masters
Ian Anderson - TAAB 2
Tolo Marton - Stage Exit
Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell
Rory Gallagher - Defender
Ian Anderson - Homo Erraticus
Jeff Beck - You Had It Coming
Chris Squire - Fish Out Of Water
The Kinks - Think Visual
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Genesis - Three Sides Live
Florence & The Machine - Lungs
The Kinks - Sleepwalker
Rory Gallagher - Top Priority
King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black
Pink Floyd - The Wall Live
The Kinks - Misfits
Joan Osborne - Love And Hate
Rory Gallagher - Blueprint
Genesis - Foxtrot
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Marillion - Marillion.com
Steeleye Span - Time
Steeleye Span - Horkstow Grange
Steeleye Span - They Called Her Babylon
Steeleye Span - Bloody Men
Shirley Collins - Amaranth
Richard Thompson - Acoustic Classics
Mike Oldfield - Tr3s Lunas
So all i have for you is a playlist:
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Third Annual Pipe Dream
Rush - Power Windows
Genesis - Calling All Stations
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Jethro Tull - Original Masters
Ian Anderson - TAAB 2
Tolo Marton - Stage Exit
Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell
Rory Gallagher - Defender
Ian Anderson - Homo Erraticus
Jeff Beck - You Had It Coming
Chris Squire - Fish Out Of Water
The Kinks - Think Visual
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Genesis - Three Sides Live
Florence & The Machine - Lungs
The Kinks - Sleepwalker
Rory Gallagher - Top Priority
King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black
Pink Floyd - The Wall Live
The Kinks - Misfits
Joan Osborne - Love And Hate
Rory Gallagher - Blueprint
Genesis - Foxtrot
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Marillion - Marillion.com
Steeleye Span - Time
Steeleye Span - Horkstow Grange
Steeleye Span - They Called Her Babylon
Steeleye Span - Bloody Men
Shirley Collins - Amaranth
Richard Thompson - Acoustic Classics
Mike Oldfield - Tr3s Lunas
Monday, 19 May 2014
Just (Just?) Music
Quotation of the day ~ P.G. Wodehouse: "I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled."
Ok, okay, or, if you prefer, ok-eh, it's been a while since i posted anything and that's because i was planning a post about my transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 but i haven't actually made it yet. I backed everything up to an external hard drive, this one, in fact:
but it's been tough scraping up the dosh for a new PC, i don't earn a lot of money -- which is fine with me, i don't normally need a lot, but a major expense like a new PC creates a definite strain on the fambly budget.
So, really, all i have today is the next installment of my CD collection (Jeff Beck section), and a playlist. So here ya go:
And the playlist?
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Camel - Breathless
The Beatles - Beatles For Sale
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
King Crimson - Thrak
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
Tolo Marton - Stage List
Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Jeff Beck - Jeff
Sandy Denny - Sandy
The Records - The Records
Mike Orlando - Sonic Stomp II (twice!)
Martyn Bennett - Bothy Culture
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Los Angeles, 1969-04-26 (shhh, a bootleg)
Van der Graaf Generator - World Record
Various Artists - The Black Keys And Friends
AC/DC - Black Ice
Jack Bruce - Silver Rails
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick - Skin And Bone
Chris Foster - Outsiders
Runrig - In Search Of Angels
Rush - Vapor Trails
Virgil Donati - In This Life
Saga - House Of Cards
Jethro Tull - Roots To Branches
The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
Van der Graaf Generator - Vital
John Miles - Stranger In The City
Ok, okay, or, if you prefer, ok-eh, it's been a while since i posted anything and that's because i was planning a post about my transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 but i haven't actually made it yet. I backed everything up to an external hard drive, this one, in fact:
but it's been tough scraping up the dosh for a new PC, i don't earn a lot of money -- which is fine with me, i don't normally need a lot, but a major expense like a new PC creates a definite strain on the fambly budget.
So, really, all i have today is the next installment of my CD collection (Jeff Beck section), and a playlist. So here ya go:
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Camel - Breathless
The Beatles - Beatles For Sale
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
King Crimson - Thrak
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
Tolo Marton - Stage List
Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Jeff Beck - Jeff
Sandy Denny - Sandy
The Records - The Records
Mike Orlando - Sonic Stomp II (twice!)
Martyn Bennett - Bothy Culture
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Los Angeles, 1969-04-26 (shhh, a bootleg)
Van der Graaf Generator - World Record
Various Artists - The Black Keys And Friends
AC/DC - Black Ice
Jack Bruce - Silver Rails
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick - Skin And Bone
Chris Foster - Outsiders
Runrig - In Search Of Angels
Rush - Vapor Trails
Virgil Donati - In This Life
Saga - House Of Cards
Jethro Tull - Roots To Branches
The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
Van der Graaf Generator - Vital
John Miles - Stranger In The City
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